The press is in a tizzy over the upcoming 100th day of Obama’s administration, so I thought I’d quickly write up my impressions.
As for substance, I’m very happy with everything so far, which isn’t surprising since most everything he has done was promised on the campaign trail — so, of course, it is nice to see the promises starting to be implemented. The more striking thing for me is the contrast in style between Bush, Clinton, and Obama. Obama seems to be hard working, engaged, disciplined, and dynamic. Clinton (obviously) lacked the discipline, whereas Bush seemed to lack Obama’s level of engagement and dynamism. For better or worse, Bush liked routine and order, and Clinton was freewheeling; maybe Obama strikes just the right balance between the two.
Other things I’m happy with — Hillary seems to be taking to her role as secretary of state, and keeping Gates at the Pentagon is looking like a good move. Hillary seems to be doing a lot of substantive work, and has also, on occasion, effectively used her political celebrity. (For example, the smack down of Dick Cheney the other day probably got a lot more mileage coming from Hillary than from a less well-known official). As for Gates, the pentagon budget is much more sensible this year than in the past. He, nevertheless, stirred up a hornets’ nest in Congress, but his bipartisan credibility should go a long way towards helping with that.
On Iraq, Afghanistan, detainee policy, and other foreign affairs, Obama is quickly instituting rather significant changes without them feeling rash or ill-considered.
All and all, I’d give Obama a solid “A”, with points having been taking off for some of the bank bailout/toxic asset stuff that I’m not really sold on yet.
sneaky
